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Looking Back and Springing Ahead — The following is a post from Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications at Microsoft. — Last week was the official start of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere. While some folks were out doing “spring cleaning,” …

Microsoft talks publicly about Blue and Build 2013 — Summary: Microsoft officials are going public with positioning around Blue, as well as about the next Windows development conference, Build 2013. — It's a new world at Microsoft these days. The latest proof points …

At Y Combinator, Social is Out, Revenue is In — Y Combinator, the best-known “incubator” of technology startups in Silicon Valley, is showing further proof that the social-networking craze has died down and more founders are tackling “boring” problems that generate cash.

One in Five BlackBerry 10 Apps Is Really an Android App — One of BlackBerry's key goals is getting developers to write apps designed to take advantage of its all-new operating system. — But, knowing that not all developers are ready to bet on a native app, the company has offered …

New Flipboard: News and Posts Handpicked and Shared — One of the best ways of following topics that are interesting to you is Flipboard, a popular app for Apple and Android mobile devices that automatically turns social-network posts and news from online publications, into beautiful, magazine-like pages you “flip” through by swiping.

The power of the RSS reader — With the decreasing use of RSS readers over the last few years, which will probably be accelerated by Google Reader's shutdown in July, many are bidding good riddance to a medium that they never used well. — RSS is easy to abuse. In 2011, I wrote Sane RSS usage:

Apple in court in China over ‘Siri’ claim — SHANGHAI — Apple appeared in a Shanghai court on Wednesday, accused by a Chinese firm of copying software used for the “Siri” personal assistant on its hugely popular iPhones. — The Californian company's products are big sellers in China …

How are Java attacks getting through? — Were you aware that Java is increasingly being viewed as a security risk? Of course you were — recent high-profile attacks have firmly established the trend, so we're not going to do yet another roundup here. — Instead, let's drill in and try to understand the core problem.

Store Combats Showrooming With $5 ‘Just Looking’ Fee — While some bricks-and-mortar chains are trying to curb showrooming — using a retailer to check out an item in person before buying it online — with price-matching or store-exclusive brands, one business has come up with a possible solution …

Global internet slows after ‘biggest attack in history’ — The row centres on the blocking of a web-hosting company alleged to be hosting spam websites — The internet around the world has been slowed down in what security experts are describing as the biggest cyber-attack in history.

UK government sets up cyber security fusion cell — The UK has set up a cyber security “fusion cell” for cross-sector threat information sharing. The intention is to put government, industry and information security analysts side-by-side for the first time.

Hashtags considered #harmful — The noble hashtag is cursed by a problem Yogi Berra could appreciate: Too many people use it, so no one goes there. — Presumably, most Twitter users use hashtags intending to add their tweet to a river of similar information and to expose their own thoughts to a wider, interested audience.

E-commerce in China: The Alibaba phenomenon — China's e-commerce giant could generate enormous wealth—provided the country's rulers leave it alone Mar 23rd 2013 | From the print edition ON ITS way to becoming the world's biggest economy, China is passing another landmark.